Customer Reviews

Chasing Life: New Discoveries in the Search for Immortality to Help You Age Less Today

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

What a joy to read this book! My own area of expertise lies in birth, but as much if not more on the minds of most of us is the other event that we will all experience: death.
A morbid topic indeed, and one that most of us would like to postpone for as long as possible. Dr. Gupta does not give us a magic potion on how to achieve longevity, but he does discuss the proverbial "fountain of youth" with wisdom, insight and wit.
This book is an easy read, and most enjoyable. It is filled with pearls of sage advice, including a great discussion of the importance of mind-body connections, great diet tips, the importance of emotional as well as physical health, and tips for achieving all of these goals, and much more.
One of the best parts of the book is that each chapter begins with a single page titled "Paging Dr. Gupta". These pages highlight the important points of each chapter.
My favorite theme of the book was the excellent advice on nutrition. Suffice to say that your mother was right - eat your fruits and vegetables! But you have to love a book that also lets us know that some "unlikely elixirs" may very well be good for us. So after we finish those fruits and vegetables, Dr. Gupta reminds us that "dark chocolate, wine and coffee" all have health benefits. My kind of doctor!

Man's quest for the elusive elixir of life, of course, has been going on since the ancient times indeed.

This charming book stands out among the innumerable books of the genre - books that purport to tell you the secret to a long and productive life and also help you to live even longer than that sturdy oak tree in your backyard. It stands out because it is most readable. Written in simple, understandable English, full of humorous anecdotes and devoid of any hyperbole, the book will startle and astonish the reader with its array of scientific facts, shrewd observations and social commentary.

Much of the facts assembled here are not new; some of them have been known for over two thousand years, and many have been well known and understood for over thirty or forty years. For example, the ancient Indians knew, as mentioned in Ayurveda that turmeric is good for your health - they called it a "blood purifier"; now scientists tell us that turmeric has anti-oxidants, and it is a bactericide also, and that it has the ability to heal some of the fungal and bacterial infections of skin and blood: presto- it's a blood purifier! "Eating foods like dark chocolate and dishes containing the spice turmeric and drinking red wine, green tea, and even coffee can all help you live longer and healthier, with a dramatically sharper mind, " the author states.

Also, it has been known now for over thirty years that it's better to be slightly under-nourished than over-nourished. With over-nourishment comes the danger of diabetes and hypertension. The author explains clearly why humans and animals live longer on a meager, low-calorie diet.

It's an undeniable fact that nothing can stop aging, of course. We can only delay perhaps the effects of the onset of aging. Dr. Gupta says, "Nothing can stop aging, but we can take steps to increase our chances of living longer, healthier lives."

The book is full of startling facts: that although genetics do appear to play a role in how long we live, studies suggest that our DNA accounts for only about 30 percent of how long we live; and some not so startling facts such as deep breathing is very important to live a long life.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. It is free of medical jargons. It's written in such simple prose that even average readers with ordinary education can read and understand it without reaching for a dictionary repeatedly. And more important, readers can implement in their own life the ideas espoused and suggestions given by Dr. Gupta, and improve both the quality of their life and also their longevity.

I found this book a somewhat frustrating read. At times it seems as if it were written strictly for a tv audience, with the content skirting over issues in a glib and lackadaisical tone. It does mention early on that a companion tv series is in the works, and I got the impression that the book is a sort of script for the tv program. There is also some very poor writing, which at times made me feel that Dr. Gupta should have spent more time chasing editors instead of chasing life.

There is a lot of good basic longevity information but nothing that has not been revealed elsewhere. There are some gems in here, like the very clear explanation on what happens in cells to promote the aging process. At the same time, Gupta covers a lot areas that are still very speculative but doesn't tell you that until after you've read the few paragraphs or pages on that topic. This habit starts with the introduction, where he talks extensively about stem cell injections currently occuring in Russia, only to end the section by saying, essentially, "we're not there yet but there's a lot of other good stuff in my book you can follow".

The meat in this book is located at the end of each chapter where Gupta lists the top tips for that section to promote longevity. Again, most of these are not anything new, but each page could be a handy reference (for the rest of us) to help us establish new, longevity promoting habits.

In sum, the book is a good primer on longevity but takes too many detours in speculative areas and can sometimes jar you with its poor writing.

I just finished Chasing Life and found it to be a factual review of current scientific knowledge on the best and most sure-fire ways to improve one's health and potential longevity.

Dr Gupta doesn't try to sell you any supplements or convince you to buy a dvd or special exercise equipment. He simply presents straight facts about what you can do to improve your health and reduce your odds of suffering from the most common diseases plaguing our society. I've read other books along these lines that attempt to convince readers to take specific actions based on less proven techniques. Dr Gupta's suggestions stick to the more traditional and proven methods for enhancing your health.

Chasing Life does present interviews with a variety of leaders in various medical specialties offering glimpses into where science and medicine is heading.

This is a well written, easy read. In my opinion Sanjay Gupta's reporting on CNN has always seemed credible and unbiased. This book does nothing to harm that reputation.

This book has been very useful and clarifying to me. For instance, I had read that fat around the abdomen could indicate future heart problems, but Dr. Gupta explains it in a more convincing way, I mean, now I can choose between being sick and chasing life. Though I had known quite a lot about health, what is good or bad for me, I wasn't able to convince myself that I should lose weight, exercise more and take care of me, things that everybody knows they should be doing, but many don't do. With lots of information on health and more importantly, on what we can do to be healthy, the book is easy to read and understand and at the same time, enjoyable.
It has given me insight into how I can chase life, and also hope that it's still not too late to start all over again. Who knows I can even run a 5k some day? Positively, it is one of my reference books!

I must say that I am very impressed with the wealth of information and insight Dr. Gupta has put into this book. From the advanced copies out there already I can tell you that this book will give you the information on making choices that will not only make you live longer but live better. Once again we can trust America's doctor to guide us with simple information in this age of confusing and conflicting medical information. I reccommend this book to everyone and stongly encourage physicians to reccommend this book to their patients as well. In medical school they show us all of the studies taht Dr. Gupta talks about and this book simplifies the highlights for the average person with out the heavy medical terms of top medical journals. This book covers themes that I know my fellow students are getting questions from the patients they see in clinical rotations.

Imran Ali (Student New York Medical College)

I was not impressed by Chasing Life. Within the topics it covers (exercise, eating, supplements, memory, attitude, and the future) the practical information and suggestions offered were quite basic. The book focused more time than I would have prefered on how future technologies could extend life. This book is not for people wanting an in depth look into physiology of aging, or a comprehensive approach on how to combat it.
Stylistically ideas and sentances throughout the book seem fragmented. It's an easy read that touches on a few ways to improve your health, with a light conversational tone and lots of stories about the people Dr. Gupta meet during his research of this book.

My 24-year-old son is a GBM (brain cancer) patient & medical student. We've read LOTS of these types of books and this is by the far, the best and most sensible of the lot. Everyone can incorporate Dr. Gupta's guidelines for eating and exercising sensibly. We liked that he de-bunked a lot of the myths surrounding the causes of cancers (deodorant, cell phones, etc.), that he presented many viewpoints, the science behind his proposals, and that he doesn't make you feel guilty for your unhealthy habits. Very readable. Read with a highlighter in hand!

I had heard good things about this book and started to read it with much enthusiasm. There is definitely some basic info in here and for those who otherwise would have not read other health/longevity books, this is for you. I knew much of the info but Dr. Gupta definitely added twists for many doable things to work on in one's quest. I really enjoyed the stem cell clinics in Russia, the simple items like just reducing your waistline (abdominal fat acts differently on the organs, and weight lifting adds upper body strength but also increases lung capacity. He pulled references from many different sources and examined many approaches that have been successful for some, not for others. I guess he may be speaking to his target audience and he has had much exposure on TV but I felt that he covered interesting items and I can pursue additional information for the ones that interest me. This is not meant to be all encompassing.

A balanced discussion of living long and living healthy. Medical insight is woven into the review of different diets and exercise regimens, along with discussion of fads and "on the fringe" topics. The good doctor even gives us some idea of possible future medical developments that would affect our healthspan. On the whole, an informative, sensible, evidence based, and easily readable book that will help you chase a longer healthier life.